Heath Ledger's Joker Shows His Punk Rock Roots

Johnny Depp turned to rock legend Keith Richards to help flesh out his memorable pirate Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean, and now it appears that another summer movie character owes a debt of gratitude to British rock attitude.

Christopher Nolan says that Heath Ledger's already frightening embodiment of the Joker in The Dark Knight is loosely based on Sex Pistols frontman Johnny Rotten.

"We very much took the view in looking at the character of the Joker that what's strong about him is this idea of anarchy," Nolan told SciFi.com. "This commitment to anarchy, this commitment to chaos. So he's not just a bank robber or an ordinary criminal who is out for material gain. His chief motivation would be that of an anarchist." According to Nolan, Ledger put a lot of thought and work into the character, even before filming began. "I talked to Heath a lot about it, even [while] we were finishing the script, and we both agreed that that is the most threatening force, really, in a way, that society faces: pure anarchy of someone who wants to do harm purely for its own sake and for his own entertainment." Though he has settled down considerably since his Sex Pistols days, Rotten (born John Lydon) can still get a response: While competing on the British reality show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here in 2004, he called the program's viewers "f***ing c**ts" on live TV. That line's always good for a laugh.

Comments

[Joe]

I can't wait to see his portrayal of the Joker. It's so creepy in the promos that I'd love to see the whole performance. There was a leaked promo that showed like a 5 minute clip of the Joker robbing a bank and Ledger was very good at the end of it. I could see why portraying this character would have done a number on him.